Something I discovered when travelling for work, use distilled water rather than tap or "spring' water. You get a truer coffee (or tea) taste and you lessen the need to clean your equipment.
I forget what city i was in but the water was terrible and my tea made in my room was undrinkable. I had distilled water and used that and started using it at home as well. Cleaning the coffee maker / tea kettle is practically a thing of the past. Some people miss the mineral flavors that distilling removes, I do not. I even use distilled water for drinking now.
You can buy 4L bottles at Walmart for $.99. They sell 10L containers for 4 or 5 bucks. I recently discovered my local Independent now has 18L jugs for $5.99, best deal and no more lugging all those 4L bottles.
[h=2]Health effects[/h]Distillation removes all minerals from water, and the
membrane methods of
reverse osmosis and
nanofiltration remove most, or virtually all, minerals. This results in demineralised water, which has not been proven to be healthier than
drinking water. The
World Health Organization investigated the health effects of demineralised water in 1982, and its experiments in humans found that demineralised water increased
diuresis and the elimination of
electrolytes, with decreased serum potassium concentration.
Magnesium,
calcium, and other nutrients in water can help to protect against nutritional deficiency. Recommendations for magnesium have been put at a minimum of 10 mg/L with 20–30 mg/L optimum; for calcium a 20 mg/L minimum and a 40–80 mg/L optimum, and a total water hardness (adding magnesium and calcium) of 2–4
mmol/L. At water hardness above 5 mmol/L, higher incidence of
gallstones,
kidney stones,
urinary stones,
arthrosis, and
arthropathies have been observed.[SUP][
citation needed][/SUP] For fluoride the concentration recommended for dental health is 0.5–1.0 mg/L, with a maximum guideline value of 1.5 mg/L to avoid
dental fluorosis.[SUP]
[16][/SUP]
Water filtration and distillation devices are becoming increasingly common in households. Municipal water supplies often have minerals added or have trace impurities at levels which are regulated to be safe for consumption. Much of these additional impurities, such as
volatile organic compounds,
fluoride, and an estimated >75,000 other chemical compounds[SUP]
[17][/SUP][SUP]
[18][/SUP][SUP]
[19][/SUP] are not removed through conventional filtration; however, distillation and reverse osmosis eliminate nearly all of these impurities.
The drinking of distilled water as a replacement for drinking water has been both advocated and discouraged for health reasons. Distilled water lacks minerals and ions such as calcium that play key roles in biological functions such as in nervous system
homeostasis, and are normally found in potable water. The lack of naturally occurring minerals in distilled water has raised some concerns. The
Journal of General Internal Medicine published a study on the mineral contents of different waters available in the US. The study found that "drinking water sources available to North Americans may contain high levels of
calcium,
magnesium, and
sodium and may provide clinically important portions of the recommended dietary intake of these minerals". It encouraged people to "check the mineral content of their drinking water, whether tap or bottled, and choose water most appropriate for their needs". Since distilled water is devoid of minerals, mineral intake through diet is needed to maintain good health.[SUP]
[20][/SUP]
The consumption of
"hard" water (water with minerals) is associated with beneficial cardiovascular effects. As noted in the
American Journal of Epidemiology, consumption of hard drinking water is negatively correlated with atherosclerotic
heart disease.[SUP]
[21][/SUP]
